


Nodus Tollens

by anemoia



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: I changed the names of some Tokyo ghoul characters, It wouldn't make as much sense if I didn't, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-12
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-04-14 09:45:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4559943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anemoia/pseuds/anemoia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tokyo Ghoul AU. After the war with Gaia, Percy returns to New York for his last year of high school, but it seems that recently there have been an influx of ghouls, human-like creatures who differ from humans in internal structure, diet, and physical strength, into New York City. Percy and his friends don't think much of it, their lives still wrapped up in being demigods or being regular mortals, until one ghoul, the binge eater lures him in. He didn't ask to be a demigod, but he didn't ask to become what he had in this AU either. Nodus Tollens- the realisation that the plot of your life doesn't make sense to you anymore. He is after all, a Greek hero, and what better story for a Greek hero than a tragedy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Binge eater

**Author's Note:**

> okay so I know I said that there was slight percabeth and I mean very slight, the story mostly focuses on Percy. I don't know if I want this to be Jercy or Percico and it kinda depends on how the plot goes, but I will also let the readers have a say, and take suggestions.

Percy's fingers tapped lightly on the wooden table in the quaint cafe that he was sitting in. Afternoon sunlight streamed in from the windows, and people hustled by on the busy streets of New York.  
"Dude, how come you always order decaf coffee?" a voice asked. Percy looked up and saw his friend staring down at him with his fancy drink that probably had multiple shots of espresso. 

"Dunno, I don't put creamer in it either, just lots of sugar." The old chair scraped against the wood as his friend pulled it out and he sat down, and smiled at his friend. 

"So, Jackson, what's the big news?" 

"What do you mean miles?" 

"you know exactly what I mean, the gossip, the good stuff." He took a sip of his coffee, and Percy thought to himself how much miles really didn't need the caffeine to fuel his already active personality- matching his brightly coloured jacket. 

"Nothing really." Percy said while shrugging. Boy what an understatement that was.  
"sure, whatever you say. so what about that girl who stares at you every time we come here, huh?" 

"I've got a girlfriend." Percy said as he took a sip of his coffee. Miles brought this up all the time, but Percy had no intention of budging. 

"You say that, but I've only seen her once. Plus she goes to one of the private schools in downtown, so why would I really trust her anyway?" 

"because she's my girlfriend, and I trust her." Percy said, starting to get irritated. 

"okay, but at least just be friendly to the girl wh-" the door to the cafe opened, a little bell on top chimed and she walked in. She had black hair with a hint of purple, purple glasses, and wore a white dress with converse. Percy and Miles looked up and she made eye contact with Percy, then quickly blushed and looked away, causing Miles to snicker. 

"You're so hooked up on me getting with this girl, what about that barista that you keep going on about?" Miles' smiles faltered slightly and he looked down 

"who? Tiana?"

"yep! that's the one!" Percy said while trying not to laugh." 

"Oh my god, shut up!" Miles said while blushing. 

Percy laughed even harder "Do you really think you have a chance with her? Oh man!"  
He looked up to see that the girl was staring at him again, but quickly looked away. something seemed off about her, but he didn't want to assume. She didn't scream monster or anything Greek/roman related, so what could she want with him? 

"Hey Percy," Miles said in a more serious tone while looking at his phone. "What do you think about these 'ghouls'?" 

"What about them?" Percy asked. "That they eat people? I wonder, how they've been blending into society so well if they're these 'monsters' that are completely horrifying and with no morals whatsoever." 

"I guess that's true." Miles said. "Hey, do you ever wonder about what one of them looks like, I mean, they've got to be pretty hideous, right?" 

"I guess so", Percy said, envisioning a cross of some of the many monsters he had faced in battle. "but then back to how do they blend in so well with society?" 

"I have no idea." books hit Percy's foot and he looked down to see several school books on the floor, some of which he had to read for his classes too. 

"I am so sorry!" A soft feminine voice said. Percy looked towards its source and saw the girl who always took glances at him, but now her fair skin was beet red. 

"It's fine, here let me help you." He said and bent down to help her with the books. He also noticed that Miles conveniently left to go talk to the barista that he had the hots for. 

"Why do you carry so many books around?" Percy asked 

"I just like to read, and do my homework somewhere other than home." The girl said. One of the books had her name on it 

"Rize?" he said. She giggled. "that's me." 

Now that he was closer to her, he noticed that her eyes were a dark shade of brown that sparkled in the sunlight with her glasses.  
"where are you from?" He asked while handing her the books she dropped and standing up.  
"Japan, I came from Tokyo, but I wanted to go to University here in New York so here I am."  
"That's pretty cool, I've lived here pretty much my whole life." Percy said. 

"SO! YOU'VE MET MY BRO PERCY!" Miles shouted while placing a hand in Percy's shoulder. Rize jumped. 

"I guess I have" she said while smiling. Miles smiled too, and Percy sighed internally, but he was also hopeful at making a new friend. 

"I will see you around then." Rize said  
"Thank you for helping me!" she shouldered her bag and began to walk out the cafe. 

"So how did it go with you and the Barista?" Percy asked. 

"Her heart is stone cold, but I will prevail! Miles said while putting a hand to his chest. Percy rolled his eyes. 

"Whatever you say, besides don't you have to be at work soon?" 

"don't you have to be at work soon? you're the who's guarding people's lives." Miles retorted 

"more like yelling at their children, but yeah, I guess you're right." I'll see you later! 

 

After working at the pool, Percy walked out of the complex, and zipped up his hoodie. the train station was only a few blocks away from his apartment complex but he was walking leisurely and enjoying how the city looked at night. 

"Percy!" A voice called. in the distance, a girl in a white dress was waving at him. 

"Rize?" Percy asked. "What are you doing here?" 

"Well, I was at the library earlier, and I'm on my way home now." Percy smirked, this girl loved to read just like Annabeth. 

"Would you maybe like to get something to eat on the way home?" she asked, her voice getting softer and higher with the question. Percy's mind went blank, he wanted to say no, but Rize seemed so charming, so winsome. 

"sure, I guess," he said. she giggled lightly and they walked together down the street. They talked about random things, how they were in the same year, Rize was going to NYU and Percy said he applied there, but also was looking at some schools in California, but he would see where he ended up. 

"You seem like someone who just 'goes with the flow' is how it's said, right?" She asked. He laughed at that. 

"I guess so, a lot of times I don't really have a choice." He said while looking down. 

"What do you mean?" Rize asked. Percy looked back up. 

"Well, you can't always control what happens in your life,and with my life especially, things are just... chaotic." 

"I suppose I understand what you mean." Rize said. How could she understand what Percy was saying? What had she been through that could compare to what Percy had been through? They continued to walk in silence until they approached a small deli on the right. 

"Would you like to eat here?" She asked softly.

"sure" Percy said. He still couldn't shake the feeling that something was off, but he couldn't tell what was off. It wasn't the usual feeling of a Greek monster to him, this was different. As they were about to turn into the deli, someone bumped into his shoulder, and knocked him down. 

"Hey!" Percy said as he got up. Looking down at him was Tiana, whose face was emotionless as usual, but there was an unusual glint in her eyes. She looked up at Rize and the two locked eyes, then back down at Percy. 

"Tiana? What did you do that for?" he asked. She looked at him, and then looked at the girl  
who was behind her, who seemed like she was trying not to laugh, and walking away, like nothing happened. 

"Are you okay?" Rize asked, sounding frantic. 

"I'm fine, that was just, weird."

"It sure was. Would you like to eat now?" Rize asked while trying to help him up. 

"Sounds good." Percy said and they walked inside the small deli. 

The deli had a white tile floor and similarly white tile walls with posters and newspaper articles on it. It was small, and there were a few tables where people could sit and eat their food after ordering it. The counter was made of a dark wood, and the entire room was pleasantly lit. A few people sat at the tables on either side of the room, and there were two people standing behind the counter, waiting to take orders, while three more were in the back making the food. Percy and Rize walked up to the counter and stared up at the menus that were hanging above them. 

"The BLT looks pretty good." Percy said nonchalantly. Rize nodded. "What are you thinking about?" 

"I'm not sure, to be honest, I'm on a diet." Rise said while looking down and blushing. Percy was shocked; Rize didn't have seem to have any fat on her that he could see. 

"Really? but you seem... well, you seem just fine the way you are." Percy said, now blushing slightly. Damn it, I feel like Aphrodite is messing with me right now. Percy thought 

"Really?" Rize asked looking up and hopeful. 

"um, yeah." Percy said. "Would you like to order now?" 

"Yes, I'll have a small turkey sub." Rize said and began to pay for her food. Percy watched and then wondered if he should be paying for her food instead be the opportunity passed because it was now his turn to order. 

"I'll have a medium BLT, please." The cashier nodded. 

"That'll be 7.85." Percy handed over the money and went to wait over by Rize. When their food came, they sat at a table by the entrance and Percy opened his sandwich. 

"You seem like the type of person who would get a large." Rize remarked as she unwrapped hers. 

"I ate at work today." Percy said as he took a bite. 

"Oh really? what do you do?" she asked. 

"I'm a lifeguard." He said. They continued to talk and Percy noticed that Rize only had a bite or two of her sandwich, which he found confusing, but brushed it aside, because she did say that she was on a diet. As Percy finished up his sandwich, she still hadn't taken more than a bite or so, and was wrapping it up. 

"I know that you said you're on a diet, but don't you think you should eat more?" Percy asked. 

"Oh, no, I'm fine." Rize said as she finished wrapping up her sandwich. 

"Are you going to save it?" Percy asked. "You still have a lot of food left." 

"Yes, I'll eat later." Rize said while smiling. She stood up.

"Are you ready to go?" She asked. Percy stood up and balled up his trash, throwing it out on his way out the deli. The two walked in comfortable silence on their way home, and down the stairs into the train station. When they got down, they realised that there weren't very many people and Rize continued to walk towards the end of the platform. 

"Why are we walking down?" Percy asked. 

"It'll be less crowded." Rize said. 

"There aren't a lot of people anyway though." 

"I know, but don't you think the lack of people is nice for a change?" 

"I guess so." 

"I want to thank you for coming and having dinner with me, it was wonderful." Rize said while brushing a lock of hair out of her face. Percy smiled.

"It was fun." 

"I understand that you and your friend have an interest in ghouls?" Rize asked "I'm reading a book about them." 

"I know someone who reads a lot, and she's really into those books about ghouls too. but it's more miles who is into them than I am. I've always pictured them as something hideous." 

"Hideous?" Rize asked as she took a step closer. 

"Yeah, I just think that something, based off of miles' description that could do such awful things would have to look pretty ugly, right? But the stories that Annabeth tells me about, the main character always ends up feeling loss and they always end up being alone. I think maybe that's why she can relate to them. They're written by a Japanese author too." 

"Oh! Takatsuki! I love her books." Rize said. "You know, Percy, I've noticed you a long time ago." 

"You did?" He asked his mind not thinking clearly, caught in a hazy fog, cheeks red, and Rize was even closer now, to the point where she laid her head on his chest and hummed softly. 

"yes, and I am very interested in you." She said as she raised her head slightly to take a bite out of Percy's shoulder. The pain was excruciating and Percy yelled, but the sound was covered up by the passing train; the train that he would have taken home otherwise. 

"Ahh, you're so delicious!" Rize said with a smile, after letting go of Percy and he fell to the ground. 

Oh my Gods, What just happened, What's going on, THOSE EYES. Her sclera had turned black, with red lines that connected to a red pupil. 

"Oh my, are you alright?" Rize asked. Percy's thoughts were running at a million miles an hour and his hand instinctively reached towards his pocket for riptide, but Rize smiled. 

"Percy is short for perseus from Greek mythology, right?" She asked, and he pulled  
out his pen. He was suspicious of anyone who knew his full name and where it came from, because that usually meant that they were a monster, who was after their blood, which Rize turned out to be, and Percy felt so stupid for not realising it sooner. 

"Whenever I read the story, the way he chopped off Medusa's head, it always makes me shudder! His bravery is fantastic!" She said while laughing and bending over. Percy stared at her horrified, and uncapped riptide, his bad shoulder hurt terribly but he swung with his other arm, and the sword. passed right through her. At first he couldn't register what had happened, because surely she had to have been a monster, she just but his shoulder, but the celestial bronze didn't do anything to her. 

"Yes, it's me." She said. "It never really occurred to you , did it? That I am a ghoul!" And four red tentacles; her kakugan sprouted out of the small of her back, her kakugan, and Percy then realised that he was as helpless as any mortal. He recapped riptide because how would his sword help him here?  
He began to think of other options and looked around the train station but because Rize had led them to a secluded place, and most other people had left, they were on their own for the time being. 

"Percy, you're making me shudder!" She said, as she placed her hands to her lips. Realising that he was out of options, Percy turned to run. 

"Wait, where are you going?" Rize asked as she laughed and one of her Kakugan tentacles reached out and grabbed Percy by the leg, pulling him back.

"I got you!" She said in a sing-song voice. Percy yelped as she dragged him back, feeling his ankle twist in the process. 

"Haha, this must be the first ghoul kakugan you've seen." Suddenly her demeanor changed and she leaned in very close to Percy, his hand tightening around a pencil he found on the ground, vision blurring slightly from blood loss. 

"I'll gently scratch inside around your stomach for you." She said in a low voice. Suddenly, Percy swung up with the Pencil and aimed for Rize's face. Another tentacle came up and blocked him and Percy got up off the ground and began to run away but Rize's tentacle came up and stabbed him right in the stomach and lifted him off the ground. Percy coughed up blood, and it splattered on the concrete floor of the station. A sickening crunching sound could be heard as it went though his body, and came out the other side, no doubt going through and messing up many of his organs.She swung him into a wall, and he crashed down, eyes rolled up into his head, and fell to the ground. 

"Oh no, did you die?" She asked. 

"I love humans with body types like yours, Percy Jackson.". She said as she walked closer. Not a lot of fat, and lots of muscle, it's harder to eat, but the taste is wonderful! I wonder out of the two I've eaten this week, who will taste better?" Suddenly a loud creak and groan could be heard from above Rize and Percy, who was trying now to stay awake, his blood pooling around him on the ground, and thoroughly soaking through his clothes. 

"Oh?" she said while looking up. Then, large chunks of concrete and steel fell from above on to her, and Percy could hear her horrific scream from under them. 

"You! Why?" She said from under the rubble." 

Her arm stuck out in a pool of blood, and in the distance people were yelling. 

"Look under that metal beam!" 

"Is that a person down there?" 

"Someone call an ambulance!" 

Percy sighed, and finally lost his loose grip on consciousness, still on the cold concrete floor.


	2. discountenance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't forget about the original characters, I have to set up  
> Percy in the ghoul world first. I intend for this story to be long, so it has a slow build. Please  
> bear with me and thanks for reading ^^

There were bright lights and garbled speech all around percy, but he couldn’t really make out what was going on, nor who was doing the talking. It felt like he was floating, and that he could just let go at any minute.

“His abdomen… lost”

“His intestines.. Shifted! He’s…”

“And transplant her organs into him!”

_I don’t think I’m anything special, now that I’m trapped inside my head. Just a high school student who likes to skateboard and swim. I’m sure if you wrote a book about my life, it would be interesting, the things I’ve done to save the world, but for me to be the lead role? I don’t think I would do a good job really, actually..._

“His heart rate has stablised!”

“The operation was a success!”

_I really think that it would be a tragedy._

_In the story of Perseus, the original, when he meets Medusa, she tells hims about how she was once a beautiful maiden, with wonderful hair. She had fallen in love with my dad and they had sex in Athena’s temple. Athena got mad and Medusa’s hair was turned into snakes, and her face became so ugly that no one could look at it. When I first read the original story, while learning greek, I though Athena had overreacted towards Medusa, she had been in love after all. But when I saw Rize’s Kakugan, it reminded me of the snakes that made up Medusa's hair, and I should I really have that much sympathy after all?_

_“This must be the first ghoul claw you’ve seen!”_

_I guess it was._

_The more time that passes, the more I think that it didn’t happen._

_But the scars, they’re a real thing._

 

“Percy, have you eaten anything today?” My mother asked as she walked into the hospital room that I was staying in. It had been a few days since he had been hospalitised, and he had found that every time he had tried to eat any of the hospital food, it was absolutely disgusting, and couldn’t keep any of it down.

“No.” He said while looking down at his lap. “I think it’s pretty gross, to be honest.”

“Would you like me to bring you something from home?”

“No it’s fine.” He said. His mother pressed her lips together and stared at him.

“It’s just strange for you, to not be eating a lot.” She said.

“I’m sure I’ll be eating more once this is all over with.” He said.

“By the way, you have an appointment with Dr. Kanou today. Are you up for it?”

 

“I guess so.” Percy said while giving his mom a slight smile. He didn’t want her to worry about him, and he didn’t want to bring a lot of attention to what had happened.

“You haven’t told Annabeth, right?” Percy asked.

“I haven’t but I still don’t get why you don’t want me too.” Percy looked down, and fiddled with his sheets.

“I just don’t want everyone worrying over me and freaking out, that’s all. I’d rather this be on the down low and then just return to normal.”

“but, how normal can things return to?” Sally asked. Percy looked back up at her and they locked eyes before he shrugged and looked at the clock.

“What time is that appointment at?” He asked.

“It’s in thirty minutes.” Him and his mother continued to talk about random things and she even made him laugh a few times before it was time for the doctor to come in. They were both surprised at how quickly he recovered from the accident. and how in a matter of days he was feeling pretty normal, except for eating food. There was a soft knock on the door and then it opened.

“Good afternoon, Percy, Ms. Jackson.” Dr, Kanou said as he walked over to Percy’s bed. The doctor was a middle aged man with slicked back hair that was grey, and slight wrinkles on his face.

“Good afternoon” Sally said.

“So, Percy.” He said while clapping his hands together. “How are you feeling?”

“Pretty normal.” He said while shrugging.

"By the way," the doctor said. "Is the hospital food not to your liking?"

"Um, no! It is it's just..." Percy said while messing with the hem of his shirt sleeve.

"well, you know you won't get better unless you eat more, so be sure to try, okay?" Dr. Kanou said while clasping a hand on Percy's shoulder. "But as long as you keep taking your immunosuppressants, you'll be able to go back to school soon."

"Thank you." His mother said while smiling.

 

Later on, after his mother left and Percy was alone in the hospital room, a nurse came in with his dinner. He stared at the tray of Spaghetti and salad, reminding himself that this is a meal that he really likes, and he should take a bite but when he did, it was disgusting, and he shuddered, before spitting the food back and into a napkin.

Why does this keep happening? Why does everything taste so awful?

"Are you done, Percy?" The nurse asked as she walked back in. She looked down at the tray and back up at him. "You hardly ate anything! How come?"

"The taste seems to be off." He said quietly.

"Do you mind if I try it?" the nurse asked. "I know it's hospital food, but it can't be that bad." She said while leaning down and taking a bite. Percy watched her expression and how she didn't seem revolted like how he did, and was shocked and how she could eat it without having any problems.

"It seems fine." She said. "Do you not like pasta? You shouldn't be so picky!"

"I guess not." he said while looking away and breaking out into a slight cold sweat.

The sauce taste like rotten animal fat, and the noodles have an awful texture that I can’t stomach. The salad feels like I have paper in my mouth and it’s awful. Percy thought. Basically, everything on this tray disgusts me. The nurse took the tray away from him and bid him a good evening. Percy told her goodnight and looked out his window to watch the sunset over the city.

Later on that evening, his Mother stopped by after dinner to check up on him again with paul to see how he was doing, and they were both disappointed to see that he hadn’t eaten any of the dinner that the nurses brought him. His mom tried with some of the blue cookies but even with that, he still wouldn’t eat anything. His mom and stepdad both seemed sad by the fact that he wouldn’t, or couldn’t eat anything, and it wasn’t like he wasn’t trying, if he could, he would eat the whole batch of cookies to make his mother happy, but the thought of it just made him nauseous at this point.

“You talked to the doctor about this, right?” Paul asked Percy and Sally as they were getting ready to go.

“Yes.” Sally said as she looked down at her son. He looked back up at her.

“I don’t think it’s that much of a big deal, I mean, I feel fine. Really.” Both of his parents sighed and his mom leaned down to kiss him on the forehead.

“You know how I worry.”

“Yeah, I do. I’m just tired of being kept in the same room for so long at this point.” Percy said.

“I can understand that, but you do get out soon, so you’ll have that to look forward to.” Paul said. “We’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Goodnight, Percy.” His mom said and hugged him one last time.

“Goodnight, mom.”

 

Later on that night, Percy lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling of his hospital room, unable to sleep.

_Even though I’m hardly eating anything, I’m strangely not hungry._   
_Maybe I’m turning into one of Medusa’s snakes._

_In the weeks leading up to me getting out of my hospital, I had only a bit of water while still in there. My appetite just kept on disappearing, and I wasn't really sure why_.

Percy walked down the street a week following his release from the hospital and watched the leaves fall of the trees in the autumn wind. He felt a vibration in his pocket and pulled out his phone to read the message

**From Miles: Saturday, October 21st**   
**Congrats on your release! Why don't we head over to American Diner, my treat!**

_American diner is a classic diner, and Miles and I really love their burgers. Also, there are a lot of cute girls as their staff, but I think Miles gets more out of that than I do. Anyway, we head over there whenever there's a special occasion, it's like a little Elysium right here in New York_.

Percy arranged to meet up with Miles at 5 o'clock, and began to walk over there, pulling his hoodie tighter around him on the way.

"Hey, you look pretty good! Come on, let's go eat!" Miles said from the front entrance where he was already waiting for Percy. They both walked inside and were greeted by a waitress with shoulder length black hair, and her name tag said Lily.

"Two burgers!" Miles shouted, before Lily could ask what they wanted. "and I want extra bacon on mine."

"got it!" Lily said, and began to walk away.

"she's nice, huh. Lily right?" Miles said as he looked at her figure. Percy rolled his eyes. "But anyway, your doctor sure did have a shitstom to deal with, didn't he? He was all over the news! On the talk shows and stuff, there was nothing else."

"Yeah, apparently, he performed the transplant without gaining consent from the hospital or the family." Percy said while taking a sip of his water.

"But the girl, she didn't have any family, did she?" Miles asked "and besides, she really did seem dead on arrival"

_I still haven't told anyone she was a ghoul. Percy thought while looking down on his lap, and having the colour drain from his face._

"Oh... sorry." Miles said

"No... no it's fine." Percy said while looking back up.

Even if I did, it still doesn't seem true at all.

"So you know Andre? The guy on swim team?" Miles said. "Well I met his girlfriend while you were still out of school and oh my god Percy..." Although, Percy's attention was much more focused on the food that was coming their way. The waitress, Lily was bringing it back their way, and set it down on the table. Percy stared at his plate with a mix of horror and revulsion, because how could he eat what was in front of him, but how could he explain to Miles what was going on with him?

"...you're not going to eat?" Miles asked, after he noticed that Percy wasn't eating. "It's so good!"

"Miles... is your meat cooked okay?"

"yeah, it's perfect, why?" He said through mouthfuls. "Is yours as hard as a rock, undercooked?"

"yeah..."

_I've always liked hamburgers, especially the ones here at American diner. BUT THIS TASTES LIKE I'M EATING ROTTEN FLESH._

Percy took a small bite but then gagged and threw up on the table. Miles jumped back

"Percy, what the hell! Are you feeling alright?"

 _WHY DID I DO THAT._ Percy thought as he brought a shaking hand up to his head.

"...no." he whispered. He stood up and stepped away from the table as the waitress came over to clean it, and held his face in his hands.

_why did I do that?_   
_What did I think was going to happen?_   
_That was so embarrassing!_

He quickly paid for his meal and generous tip, even though Miles insisted, and left the restaurant.

"Percy, wait!" Miles said. But he was already long gone, down the street, and walked until he had reached Central Park, and sat himself on one of the benches.

_This is so strange. I feel like I'm losing control of my life._   
_What little control I had._

A ball rolled up to Percy's feet, followed by a girl chasing after it.

"Is this yours?" He asked. The girl nodded.

"Here you go." He said and got a whiff of her scent and gulped, startling the little girl, and Percy too, because since when did the scent of other people become something that he was craving?

* * *

 

 

Back at his apartment, he sat in the living room watching TV alone; his mother and Paul were both out on a romantic getaway in Lake Placid, and would be back the following morning.

"Due to the incident that happened at the canal street train station, people here are unable to hide their unease at the thought of the city being attacked." The reporter said.

"So today we have an expert from the ghoul research Division in Washington DC, Dr. Barnaby, to give us more information."

"Ghouls, you know do not need to consume a large number of meals in a short amount of time." He began.

"They can survive perfectly well for a month on one or two dead bodies" He sighed and put his hand on his cheek before he continued.

"But there are many ghouls who eat a number of people like this for mere pleasure, make no mistake, they are terrible, awful. creatures." He said while looking right in to the camera. and Percy shifted slightly.

"Many ghouls are probably afraid of the investigation department, and have resorted to hiding itself, which isn't very hard. Normally ghouls live their lives among us in human shape"

Normally ghouls live their lives among us in human shape. Percy repeated mentally. That explains a lot, but how does that help me?

"Can't ghouls be satisfied with ordinary food?" A girl on the news asked. Dr. Barnaby scoffed.

"You're sitting there and you know nothing." he said.

"Ghouls can't digest nutrients of non-human origin, because of a particular enzyme they have, and furthermore because of the structure of their tongues, food feels very uncomfortable to them."

 _Salad taste like paper, Meat taste like rotten flesh._..

"In front of people they may eat, but afterwards they are left with the powerful urge to vomit. "

"My, doctor, you looked like a ghoul yourself for a second."

_What if_

"I know more about ghouls than ghouls themselves" he said while chuckling

_What if when I received the organs from Rize._

The girl on the TV laughed

_They had some sort of effect in my body?_

Percy rolled his eyes, he was probably just overthinking things. He started to sit up further when his stomach growled, and he realised how hungry he was. Then the realisation struck him that he was hungry in the first place, and he was kind of shocked at the feeling, after going so long without being hungry.

_In the myth of Tantalus, he was punished by the gods for several crimes against them, and he was banished to the underworld. He stands in a pool of water, just below where he can reach it to drink, and there is a fruit tree just out of his reach. He suffers from eternal hunger and thirst, and every time he reaches for the water and the fruit, it moves just out of his reach, so that his needs can never be satisfied._

_But in my case, what had I done to be punished? When I met Tantalus, I was wiht Thalia and Nico... that's also when I topk control of the river Lethe and Bob the titan..._

_Oh_

Percy sighed and reached for the blue cookies that his mother had baked before she had left with Paul for the weekend and put one into his mouth, before immediately spitting it out, and yelling. He tried the apple, the chips, the soda  
in a fervent rush, and they all tasted awful. He laid down on the kitchen floor in defeat, one arm over his eyes, and another over his stomach, as if that could quiet the growling that was piercing the air. There was wrappers on the ground, an apple with a bite taken out of it laying next to him, and it rocked slightly on the tile floor. Percy sighed, and ran through his options, or lack of. On a sudden impulse, he grabbed his hoodie, and walked out into the cool evening autumn air.

 

He walked down the street, one arm over his gurgling stomach and turned down a narrower street that was not as well lit, There were trash cans turned over, and people hung in the shadows. Percy put his hand against a brick building and leaned it slightly as he walked, then pulled his hood up over his head, 

"You're showing a lot of leg." A man's voice said

"Hey-" a girls voice said

"Why don't you come with me?" He asked

_WHAT?! THAT'S THE GIRL FROM THE CAFE! TIANA? THE ONE MILES IS ALWAYS TRYING TO TALK TO!?_

"Let's have some fun!" he said while tightening his grip on her wrist

"wait, Let go!" she said.

_Those soft looking legs_   
_a little fat with muscle_   
_and that slender torso_   
**_with organs stuffed inside_ **

"Huh?" the man said "What are you looking at?" He asked Percy

"Hey, you! You there! Hey! Hey!" The man said, trying to get Percy's attention

"Don't fucking ignore me!" the man said, grabbing Percy's arm and pulling him towards him.

"Don't touch me." Percy said, his voice low and menacing. His left eye had changed from its usual sea green to something completely different. The sclera turned completely black, and at the center was a small pupil that was a blood red. There were lines that extended out of the small pupil into the sclera, but only a couple, and both the man and Tiana were shocked at this change in Percy.

"What's with your eyes? That's fucking disgusting!" He said.

_my eye?_

"YOU MONSTER!" The man shouted at Percy, and he was stunned. Then a sound similar to when meat is being sliced for dinner was heard, and half of the man's head came off.

"What?" He said, and those were his finals words, as Tiana sliced through his head, blood splattering on her, Percy, and the concrete of the sidewalk absorbed the man's blood, as if it was a few droplets of rain. Percy's eyes widened in shock at the scene unfolding in front of him but all Tiana said was

"You piss me off."

The man's body fell to the ground and she put her hand behind her braids.

"Aw man, I killed him and I wasn't even hungry."

_OH MY GODS YEAH YOU DID KILL HIM HOLY HEPHAESTUS_

"Maybe I'll just take an arm or something, but old man meat is pretty gross"

_WAIT WHAT ARE YOU GONNA EAT THIS GUY NOW WHAT IN HADES_

She bend down and ripped an arm off of the dead man and then looked back up at Percy who was shaking slightly in fear, his eyes wide.

_This girl..._

"Would you like some?" She asked, blood still dripping off of the severed arm.

_Is a ghoul?_


	3. Awful

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ack! it has been forever since I updated this story and now it is starting to diverge from the canon plot because well, a lot of reasons. I had to use the beginning to set up the ghoul world though, in case people who don't know the AU were reading, but now or soon- depending- it's going to start going on it's own path (it kinda started already), we'll see the demigods soon, I'm excited. Not for Percy though, but for the story.

“I can’t do this.” Percy said while backing away from Tiana. Her eyes were still back and red, and so unlike a human's. 

 

“I need to leave.” 

 

“Leave and you’ll die, dumbass.” She said. “Like it or not, you’re a ghoul, and I don’t know why only one of your eyes changes color but it does, and no human eye does that. So you’re better off taking my offer.” 

 

“You just killed someone!” Percy shouted, tears welling up in his eyes. He could barely breathe, never mind have rational thoughts. “And in cold blood, and you’re going to eat them and offer me some and that's just, so awful… I can’t do this! It's awful, disgusting. How can you do this?" 

 

“You ‘can’t do this’?” Tiana asked. “What about ghouls who have been ghouls their entire lives? We’re constantly hunted by the CCG, and for what? Because we want to live? Is it wrong for me to live?” She asked him. 

 

“it’s just not right to kill like that, humans I mean. This is so awful.”

 

“It’s been awful since I was born!” She shouted at him. “You’re so privileged, you don’t understand what it’s like!”

 

“Me? privileged?” Percy asked. He had been through hell and back, literally and this girl had the audacity to call him privileged. 

 

“Yep. You’re a white male. Who. Is. Human. You’ll never be discriminated against. You’ll never have to hunt for your food. You don’t have to worry about your government killing your family. You don’t have to hide you are all the time because if you don’t you’ll be killed. You don’t have to worry about people trying to eat you.” She took a deep breath. “You just don’t understand.” 

 

“You don’t know that much about me.” Percy said.

 

“Enough to know that you think being a ghoul is morally wrong. Do you think I asked for this?” She said in a low voice, that was barely louder than the cold autumn wind. 

 

“I didn’t ask for my situation either.” He said back to her. 

 

“Right, because you have to worry about your goddamn life everyday.” She said. He looked at her with a blank face and she huffed.

 

“I might as well help you adjust to… whatever happened to you. Mr. Yoshimura would be disappointed if I didn't. Follow me.” She said and walked past him, dropping the old mans arm on the ground as she left. Percy stood there, staring at the arm that was still severed from the body and then at the body itself, and contemplated leaving or not. And if he left, where would he go? A small part of him knew that he couldn’t eat the food in his house, he was hungry, and Tiana offered to help. On the other hand, she just killed someone as if it was nothing. Considering he’s gone with worse options before in his life, he opted to go with Tiana.

 

They walked down several blocks and Tiana smirked.

“Y’know, I can hear your stomach growling, and it’s been doing that for like the entire time we’ve been walking.” Percy sighed. 

 

“I tried to eat the food back at our apartment. It didn’t really work.”

 

“I can tell. I think I know what to do.” They turned down another street.

 

“We’re on the same block as the coffee shop that you work at. Why are we here?” He asked.

 

“You’ll see.” They stood outside the closed shop and Percy jumped when an old man came up from the basement of the shop. 

 

“Tiana, who is this?” he asked. He wore the work uniform that the workers wore at the shop and had a head of grey hair with eastern asian features. His eyes sparkled in the streetlights with something that Percy couldn’t place his finger on.

 

“This is someone who is in need of well… our help.”

 

“It’s nice to see you lending out a helping hand.” He said while smiling. “What can we do for you?” Percy’s stomach growled in response and Tiana and Mr.Yoshimura made eye contact.

 

“Why don’t you two come down into the basement.” He said and walked back down. Tiana walked down, and motioned for Percy to follow. 

 

“I’m really not sure about this.” He said.

 

“Come on, daredevil, you’ll be fine, trust me.” She said and walked further. Percy took a deep breath and walked down after her.

* * *

 

   The basement was huge, and smelled like remotely like a butchers shop and very strongly of dust. Shelves were lined with boxes and packages, and not all of them were labelled. The basement had lights hanging from the ceiling above the center of the asiles, yet it was still dim in there. The duo followed the old man an aisle until he stopped and grabbed a small package wrapped in paper and stared at it. 

 

“This should solve your hunger problem.” He said. Percy stared at the package apprehensively. He knew what was in there, but he didn’t want to say it out loud, he didn't’ want to think about it, he didn’t want to eat it.  

 

But he wanted to survive.

 

“But… I’m a human.” Percy said softly. Mr. Yoshimura handed him the package and he took it with shaking hands.   
  


“Will you shut up about that?” Tiana said, sounding annoyed.

 

“Tiana.” Mr. Yoshimura said sternly. “He’s having a rough time. We’re here to help ghouls in need.” 

 

“I’m not a ghoul.” He said even softer. Tiana rolled her eyes.

 

“What is your name?” Mr. Yoshimura asked.

 

“Percy.” he said while looking at the ground.

 

“Percy, regardless of what you think right now, this place was established to help humans and ghouls alike in times of need. Think of it like a safe place.” 

 

“I already have a safe place, and it’s not here.” Percy said, his voice rising.

 

“Well, now you have another. The world is more dangerous than you think.”

 

“Don’t I know it.” Tiana rolled her eyes again.

 

“Alright big shot, are you gonna eat the food or not?” She asked. 

 

He stared at the package, knowing that this once part of a living human being, but then, wasn’t all meat once part of a living, thinking, breathing animal too? 

  
He unwrapped the package, and the smell overpowered him. His mouth watered, his stomach growled, his eye changed. 

 

"Oh Holy shit." Tiana said. "Big shot's hungrier than I thought."

The package was gone in minutes.  


End file.
